Metabolic disorders such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia and hypercholesteremia have dramatically increased in the United States, other developed countries and even in some developing countries due to a combination of high calorie, high lipid content diets and sedentary life styles. Among other things, patients suffering from the above disorders or diseases are at risk for the development of artherosclerosis and heart disease, which are the second most frequent cause of death in the U.S. Dietary restrictions combined with exercise are known to be useful for the prevention, and in some cases, reversal of the above metabolic disorders, but have turned out to be rather ineffective when looking at populations in general. Drug treatment, therefore, appears presently to be necessary to prevent and treat metabolic disorders such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia and hypercholesteremia, and thereby prevent the development of serious side effects in particular cardiovascular disease. While a number of drugs have been developed over the years to treat the various metabolic disorders, these drugs can often have side effects or are effective only for a limited time period or function only in combination with dietary restrictions.
Compounds having activity for treating diabetes and related metabolic disorders were disclosed in PCT publications WO 01/16122 and WO 01/16123, both published Mar. 8, 2001. The disclosures of both WO 01/16122 and WO 01/16123 are hereby incorporated in their entirities by this reference, for all purposes, and particularly for their disclosures of the structures of their compounds and their biological activities and utilities.
Additionally, solid tumors are the leading cause of death attributable to cancers worldwide. Conventional methods of treating cancer include surgical treatments, the administration of chemotherapeutic agents, and recently immune based treatments, which typically involve the administration of an antibody or antibody fragment. Although some encouraging results are being reported with the latter, an effective, life-prolonging treatment or a cure is not yet available for most cancers.